简介：TcellhomeostasiscommonlyreferstothemaintenanceofrelativelystableTcellnumbersintheperipherallymphoidorgans.AmongthelargenumbersofTcellsintheperiphery,Tcellsexhibitstructuraldiversity,I.e.,theexpressionofadiverserepertoireofTcellreceptors(TCRs),andfunctionaldiversity,I.e.,thepresenceofTcellsatna(I)ve,effector,andmemorydevelopmentalstages.AlthoughthehomeostasisofTcellnumbershasbeenextensivelystudied,investigationofthemechanismsunderlyingthemaintenanceofstructuralandfunctionaldiversityofTcellsisstillatanearlystage.ThefundamentalfeaturethroughoutTcelldevelopmentistheinteractionbetweentheTCRandeitherselforforeignpeptidesinassociationwithMHCmolecules.Inthisreview,wepresentevidenceshowingthathomeostasisofTcellnumberanddiversityismediatedthroughcompetitionforlimitingresources.ThenumberofTcellsismaintainedthroughcompetitionforlimitingcytokines,whereasthediversityofTcellsismaintainedbycompetitionforself-peptide-MHCcomplexes.Inotherwords,diversityoftheself-peptiderepertoirelimitsthestructural(TCR)diversityofaTcellpopulation.Wespeculatethatcognatelowaffinityself-peptides,actingasweakagonistsandantagonists,regulatethehomeostasisofTcelldiversitywhereasnon-cognateornullpeptideswhichareextremelyabundantforanygivenTCR,maycontributetothehomeostasisofTcellnumberbyprovidingsurvivalsignals.Moreover,self-peptidesandcytokinesmayformspecializednichesfortheregulationofTcellhomeostasis.